Paper Flowers!

I love to recycle items and that’s why I am an altered art fanatic! I have started cutting up junk mail, painting it and turning it into flowers. These can be used to embellish ATCs, altered books, scrapbooks and even handmade cards. Not only are they fun to make but you’re also doing your bit to save the environment while having fun!

I usually cut flower shapes randomly, letting the scissor lead the way, but that is not the best way, as it leads to a few weird flowers =). I suggest using your die cutting machines (cuttlebug, sizzix big kick) to cut these flowers if you want a professional look. If you are going for the handmade feel grab your scissors and just go!

The next step is painting the flowers, I use acrylics and depending on how much of the background I want to show through, I apply 1-2 coats. Putting the flowers together is easy and fun…but maybe the ‘funnest’ part of all is the embellishment. You can use beads, pens, doodling, stitching, ribbons, wire…anything that you can find in your stash!

I love these as they are fun and easy to make (try doing some with the kids!) and help to conserve paper! So grab your junk mail and see what you can make out of it.